PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Immigration: EU Nationals (8 June 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending the grace period for EU Settlement Scheme applications for EU citizens who need to make late applications.

Asked by:
Marsha De Cordova (Labour)

There are no plans to extend the 30 June deadline for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme by those EU citizens and their family members resident in the UK by the end of the transition period, or to extend the associated grace period during which existing EU law rights remain protected.

The Home Office has invested nearly £8 million in marketing campaigns to encourage EU citizens and their family members to apply to the scheme. We recently launched a new wave of UK advertising to ensure EU citizens and their family members are aware of the deadline and know they need to apply. We are also working closely with employers, local authorities and charities to raise awareness.

In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, we have made clear where a person eligible for status under the scheme has reasonable grounds for missing the 30 June deadline, they will be given a further opportunity to apply.

Non-exhaustive guidance on reasonable grounds for submitting a late application was published on 1 April. It includes where there are compelling practical or compassionate reasons why a person may have been unaware of the requirement to apply to the scheme by the deadline or may have failed to do so.

Answered by:
Kevin Foster (Conservative)
14 June 2021